Scandal-plagued Illinois ‘super mayor’ defeated in re-election bid

• Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard lost her re-election bid to village Trustee Jason House by a wide margin of 88-12 during a primary election Tuesday, Feb. 25. Days before the election, Henyard released a music video proclaiming she would easily defeat House.
• Henyard faced multiple investigations into her spending, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds for personal expenses.
• An audit by former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed significant misuse of public money. It includes $43,000 in Amazon purchases in a single day and over $374,000 for Henyard’s three vehicles.

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Days before a primary election on Tuesday, Feb. 25, Dolton Mayor Tiffany Henyard released a music video starring herself, telling local news outlets that she would easily defeat her opponent. The suburban Chicago mayor known for her flashy social media footprint and a trail of investigations into misappropriation of city finances has lost her re-election bid in a one-sided contest.

The Cook County Board of Elections showed Henyard losing in Tuesday’s primary election to village Trustee Jason House by a margin of 88-12, with all precincts reporting. 

Henyard initially gained notoriety for her active social media accounts, which showed a lifestyle atypical of a public official. Not long after Henyard took office, the 20,000-person village faced a $3.5 million budget deficit. It had a surplus before she took office.

Investigations into Henyard’s finances found the mayor spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds on first-class travel to out-of-town conferences, high-end restaurants, an armed security detail and more. 

Henyard, at one point, vetoed an investigation into her own spending.

The village hired former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to audit its finances. Her report, released last August, found Henyard spent a significant sum of public money, including $43,000 in Amazon purchases in a single day. A separate investigation by WGN found Henyard charged the village more than $374,000 for her three vehicles. 

Two of Henyard’s staffers are facing federal charges in connection with their public positions.